Was the ancestor of Lizzie a Wordell or a Cornell

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jimmysnan
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2018 11:30 am
Real Name: Jo-Anne Nasser

Was the ancestor of Lizzie a Wordell or a Cornell

Post by jimmysnan »

Abbie Borden Weld states that Richard Borden married Innocent Wordell I say he married Innocent Cornell and the Borden murders were not the first parricide in the family. This is the reason I question Addie Weld


REFERENCE book "Rhode Island Historical Society Volume 2 #F76 RIHS sdser Volume 2 1893 was written by Ray Greene Huling from Cambridge Mass who was doing the genealogy on the Hazard-Perry family.
American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
BORDEN, Innocent (Cornell)
Birth Date: 167? Birth Place: Rhode Island
Volume: 16 Page Number: 117
Reference: Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941.( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): 10 Oct 1928, 7721; 11 Nov 1929, 9255
CORNELL, Innocent
Birth Date: 167? Birth Place:
Volume: 34 Page Number: 388
Reference: Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941. ( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): 10 Oct 1928, 7721; 11 Nov 1929, 9255
A GENEALOGICAL "FIND." Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society By Rhode Island Historical Society. Vol.II January, 1895 No.4.
"Last August, (which year this is it does not say,) while visiting the beautiful Wilcox Memorial Building in Westerly, I was kindly shown some bundles of historical papers that had come into the possession of the newly formed Pawcatuck Valley Historical Society. Several of these had a personal interest for me, but one of them was so useful in settling a doubtful point in genealogy that I here record it, in the hope that other searchers into family history may find it of value. It was a small scrap of time-stained paper, without date or signature, bearing these words:
"Cornell hung, killed mother with spindle, his daughter Innocent married a Borden, his daughter married Robert uncle of Thomas B. Hazard, his daughter Sarah married Stephen Champlin father of Smooth Stephen, Jeffery, Thomas, and daughter who married Sam Congdon and was the father of George Congdon. Smooth Stephen married a Perry."
For some years I had been searching for the parentage of Innocent, the wife of Richard (John, Richard) Borden of Portsmouth. The husband was born October 24, 1671, and died July 12, 1732. If this fragment told the truth the mystery was solved. With eagerness I began to trace the scrap of paper back to it's author. Inquiry of the Librarian at the Wilcox Memorial elicited the information that the paper was one of several contributed by Hon. Richard Wheeler, of Stonington. Further inquiry of that gentleman brought word that he had found the fragment amoung some papers that had belonged to the late Hon. Elisha R. Potter of Kingston. This was as far as I could go, but it was enough to satisfy me of the probable truth of the statements the paper contained. I conjecture that it was a memorandum jotted down at the request of Judge Potter by someone whose memory had been jogged by a curious question from the patient investigator.
Next I set about finding any possible confirmation of the statement. Among my own records I found at once that Sarah Borden, the oldest daughter of Richard and Innocent, born July 31, 1694, married _____Hazard, of Newport. This was something to the point, confirming the third statement of the fragment, and explaining the reason for the first name of the daughter Sarah mentioned in the fourth statement. Further investigation in Austin's Geneological Dictionary showed that Thomas (Thomas) Cornell, who was executed May 23, 1673, had a daughter Innocent, and also that Richard Borden's mother, Mary Earle (William 2, Ralph 1), was first cousin of Innocent Cornell, as the latter's mother was Sarah Earle (Ralph 1). A further search amoung those interested in Cornell genealogy made clear the fact that no other marriage has ever been ascribed to this Innocent. One correspondent is declaring his assent to the identification of Innocent Cornell with Innocent Borden, ventured the interesting conjecture that Innocent, whose birth must have been near 1673, may have been a posthumous child, and that her name may have been her mother's indignant protest at the cruel judicial murder of the father of the babe. Certainly no man in these days would be executed on such evidence as the records contain in this case.
The incident is only one of many evidences of the value of local historical collections. Little by little they attract to each other the old documents which to the owner are of little account, but to one who can interpret them and fit them into place, are of untold value. I should be glad to know of such centres of collection in every Rhode Island town. RAY GREENE HULING, Cambridge Mass. sent to the Rhode Island Historical Society."
I know this does not answer the question of which Innocent it was but, talking to the librarian, I gleaned that there was no marriage record from the Quaker Meeting house on Richard Borden and Innocent Cornell. They were not Quakers at this time. Gershom Wodell and Sarah Mott were and so were all of their children. You are not allowed to make copies of the books from the Friends Meeting house here in Newport as they are 500 years old and the Librarian looks everything up for you. I guess we just have to take his word for it. Also there was no Innocent Wordell listed at the Friends records for Gershom Wordell's children, that century.
(end Jodi's citation)
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